Chapter 6 - Precision (personalized) medicine

Abstract

Today personalized medicine has a very broad definition that spans a number of medical fields, however, the succinct definition could be stated as “the tailoring of a treatment to an individual based on their unique characteristics.” The treatment may be a medication, an exercise, a diet, a surgical procedure, or any other therapeutic measure used within the field of medicine. The treatments may be tailored to the individual by using genetic markers or other biological markers, environmental information, behavioral information, demographic information, or any other information that might change the way the patient responds to the treatment. Using these factors, physicians can determine a type of treatment, duration of treatment, what dose to give, what kind of followup is needed, or who is most likely to have certain side effects. With this information in hand, the appropriate monitoring system can be assigned to each patient. Some research organizations are preferring the term “Precision Medicine” in place of “Personalized Medicine” as we go into the 2020s. However, the author’s perspective is that “precision medicine” is synonymous with “personalized medicine” and that over time, as our knowledge increases, we will indeed be developing treatments catered to the individual as our precision increases. These terms will be used interchangeably throughout this book. While the author’s preference is to use “precision medicine,” “personalized medicine” has significant historical context that has defined the field.